Various Animal Models of Genotoxicity: Use of Zebrafish as a Potential Organism

Abstract

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a valuable model for genotoxicity research due to their genetic similarity to humans, rapid development, and transparent embryos. Their high fecundity and cost-effective maintenance enable large-scale testing of DNA damage and mutations, making them a promising alternative to traditional animal models in evaluating the genetic impact of chemicals and pharmaceuticals.  Evaluation of genotoxicity serves as a necessary safety assessment process for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics together with food additives and industrial chemicals. The evaluation demonstrates the crucial need to study DNA damage methods because these processes contribute directly to cancer development alongside infertility obstacles and neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic system disorders. Researchers widely use Zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an important model because their genes closely match human genes (around 70 percent) and their quick embryonic development combined with transparent embryo visibility enables live cell observation. Through the combination of genotoxicity testing methods that include the Comet assay together with the Micronucleus test and TUNEL assay researchers gain effective monitoring of DNA damage from environmental pollutants and pharmaceuticals and radiation. The testing methods generate mutagenic event data while running large-scale evaluations at reduced costs compared to standard mammalian experimentation protocols. Although faced with regulatory hurdles and unique metabolic characteristics of different species zebrafish models provide important benefits toward better genotoxicity research and improved safety testing in pharmaceuticals and environmental studies. Artificial intelligence and advanced transgenic techniques show promise to improve zebrafish genotoxicity research by integrating them in future research and development.